Sonne cruise SO-166 CONDRILL rockdrilling report

Skinner, A.C.. 2002 Sonne cruise SO-166 CONDRILL rockdrilling report. British Geological Survey, 61pp. (CR/02/282N) (Unpublished)

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Abstract/Summary

The British Geological Survey (BGS) were contracted by the Technical University of Freiberg to undertake rockdrilling in the area of Conical Seamount offshore Papua New Guinea as part of a scientific programme with international participation organised by Professor Peter Herzig. The work was conducted from the German Research Vessel RV Sonne which had some modifications made to the stern superstructure to allow the positioning of the rockdrill on the stern. The logistics of mobilising the heavy equipment required for rockdrilling were organised by Alister Skinner of BGS and Thomas Kuhn of the TU – Freiberg. The finally agreed solution was to ship the BGS equipment to San Francisco, California and there mobilise it on to RV Sonne. Thereafter the equipment would transit the Pacific on RV Sonne and be fitted out for operations in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea prior to the commencement of the scientific part of the cruise. The BGS equipment left Edinburgh Scotland on the 8th July 2002 and arrived in Oakland around the 15th August 2002. A Skinner had already made arrangements with local facilities to accept the BGS consignment from Oakland to San Francisco, outside of the port jurisdiction, in order to assemble the drill there. This was due to Longshoremen regulations which did not allow for non-dock personnel and labour to operate inside the port area. A. Skinner and N. Campbell of BGS and T. Kuhn of TU-Freiberg travelled to San Francisco on the 22nd of August. Over the next two days the rockdrill, winch and other equipment was built up and installed on to the vessel with the assistance of local labour, the longshoremen and the ship’s crew. The shipping containers, specially prepared to accept the BGS equipment were also shipped aboard Sonne. At this stage no launch/recovery tests could be made with the equipment and all was seafastened for the voyage across the Pacific to Papua New Guinea. Visas for accompanying BGS personnel were obtained via the PNG High Commission in London using information supplied by TU-Freiberg and the BGS operations crew flew into Rabaul on the 13th September to join RV Sonne on the 14th. Final parts of the mobilisation were completed on the 14th and 15th September. The vessel then sailed for scientific operations at Conical Seamount area, South of Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea waters and latterly at the PACMANUS area between New Ireland and New Britain. The operation was successful although the drill was beset by technical problems at the start of operations. All were resolved and the drill performed beyond expectations given the very rugged topography and unexpected geology, proved by the cores collected. Details of the drilling operations are contained in the following pages and appendices of this report. Sonne Cruise SO-166, Rockdrilling Report Page 3 Demobilisation was in Suva, Fiji on the 10th and 11th of October. Much of the equipment was disassembled coming into Rabaul (where the scientific party disembarked) and on the way from Rabaul to Suva (where there was appropriate craneage to demobilise the rockdrilling equipment). The BGS equipment was re-packed into the original shipping containers which were carried onboard. These were offloaded for commercial container shipping back to UK. The BGS personnel then disembarked the vessel for transit back to the UK.

Item Type:	Publication - Report
Programmes:	BGS Programmes > Other
Funders/Sponsors:	British Geological Survey, Technical University of Freiberg
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	This item has been internally reviewed, but not externally peer-reviewed.
Date made live:	03 Oct 2024 13:16 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538164

Item Type:

Publication - Report

Programmes:

BGS Programmes > Other

Funders/Sponsors:

British Geological Survey, Technical University of Freiberg

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

This item has been internally reviewed, but not externally peer-reviewed.

Date made live:

03 Oct 2024 13:16 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538164